News from the Committee to Protect Journalists, November 2013

Egyptian satirist Bassem Youssef was
among four journalists who received CPJ's 2013 International
Press Freedom Award on November 26. Youssef has used humor to report on and
criticize government failures to improve the economy and public services, and
its efforts to suppress opinion. In November, Youssef's show was suspended.

"Freedom of expression is not a privilege; it is a universal
right," Youssef told the crowd gathered at New York's Waldorf-Astoria hotel.
"Now, you don't have to be a journalist or a reporter. You can just be an
ordinary citizen with a camera and a YouTube channel. This is how we started. I
don't know how this will end. ... But at least this is how we started."

CPJ also awarded Janet Hinostroza,
a leading TV reporter in Ecuador, who has continued to work despite threats to
her and her family; Nedim
Şener, who faces up to 15 years in jail on terrorism charges because of his
reporting; and Vietnamese blogger Nguyen Van Hai,
who was not present at the ceremony because he is serving a 12-year prison
sentence for "conducting propaganda" against the state.

Thanks to Dan Doctoroff,
chief executive officer and president of Bloomberg,
who chaired the ceremony, the dinner raised a record $1.65 million for CPJ's
worldwide press freedom advocacy. Many of the distinguished guests at the event
also pledged support during a special appeal at the end of the night. Those
funds were matched by the John S.
and James L. Knight Foundation, contributing another $200,000.

Norman
Pearlstine, executive vice president and chief content officer of Time
Inc., presented Paul
Steiger, founding editor-in-chief of ProPublica
and former managing editor of The Wall
Street Journal, with the Burton Benjamin Memorial Award for his lifetime
commitment to press freedom.

Global appeal for a jailed
journalist

A petition
calling for the release
of jailed Vietnamese blogger, Nguyen Van Hai
has attracted more than 8,000 signatures online. Hundreds of guests at CPJ's
International Press Freedom Awards ceremony on November 26 also signed their
names to cards calling for Hai's release.

CPJ will submit the petition to the Vietnamese government in
early 2014, along with the message that journalists around the world should not
be silenced or subject to reprisal. Click here to add your name to the
petition.

Hai, a blogger who also goes by "Dieu Cay," was sentenced in
2012 to 12 years in prison and five years of house arrest for "conducting
propaganda" against the state. His blog posts touched on politically sensitive
issues, including government corruption and protests against China, which
disputes Vietnam's claim to nearby maritime territories. He has endured
solitary confinement and waged a hunger strike.

CPJ will continue to advocate for Hai's release. We look
forward to honoring him with the award in person.

Journalist released
on bail in India

On November 12, Lingaram Kodopi, an Indian journalist, was released
on bail after almost two years in prison. He faces charges of sedition,
waging war against the state, and criminal conspiracy after being accused of
being a Maoist associate, according to news reports. Kodopi has consistently
denied the allegations and said he has been targeted because of his work
exposing police wrongdoing.

"Jailing Lingaram Kodopi for more than two years was a
travesty of justice," said CPJ Asia Program Coordinator Bob Dietz. "We
welcome the Indian Supreme Court's small but significant step allowing Lingaram
Kodopi to be released on bail. CPJ will continue advocating on his
behalf."

CPJ makes Sri Lanka
trend on Twitter

Ahead of the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting
(CHOGM) that was being hosted in Colombo, CPJ launched a Thunderclap
campaign to draw attention to Sri Lanka's abysmal press freedom record,
which includes the detention of two international journalists in
November.

After CPJ's campaign was launched, U.K. Prime Minister David
Cameron visited Sri Lankan
journalists and also brought up the need for an international investigation into
human rights abuses during his meeting with Sri Lankan President Mahinda
Rajapaksa. Rajapaksa rejected the calls.

The campaign, which was created by CPJ's Asia program and Speak Justice campaign, also
linked to a public letter
issued by CPJ that called on CHOGM leaders to urge efficient investigations
into journalist murders in the country.

Sri Lanka became a trending topic on Twitter in November,
thanks to the campaign.
CPJ's Asia program research associate, Sumit Galhotra, said, "CPJ's Thunderclap
message was shared by more than 300 supporters with a social media reach of
almost 2.5 million, and helped break the silence surrounding Sri Lanka's
abysmal press freedom record."

CPJ's Asia program also assembled a Storify
to track the Twitter traffic as it unfolded.

CPJ spotlights
Ethiopia's press record

The African Media Leaders Forum, which took place in Addis
Ababa in the first week of November, encourages economic cooperation among its member
states and is billed as Africa's largest gathering of media chiefs and news
industry stakeholders. CPJ helped put press freedom on the agenda at the forum.

The forum's speakers exclusively used CPJ data in their
criticism of Ethiopia's press freedom record. Prior to the event, CPJ Africa
Advocacy Coordinator Mohamed Keita reached out to the forum's participants and
speakers and provided them with information on the climate of free expression
in Ethiopia. CPJ East Africa Representative Tom Rhodes, who attended the forum,
spoke about a number of issues affecting press freedom, including Woubshet Taye's arrest, the detention
of Ethio-Midhar journalists right
before the event, and the plight in general of exiled Ethiopian journalists.

"CPJ is the biggest thorn in the side of the Ethiopian
government," CPJ's Rhodes said after the forum.

One grateful Burundian journalist also publicly thanked CPJ
at the forum. During the question-and-answer part of the Media Legal Reform
panel on regional anti-press media laws,
the owner of a Burundian radio station thanked CPJ--and Rhodes, in
particular--for their success in advocating for the release from jail of a radio
journalist. The journalist was also present.

CPJ's Keita compiled a Storify
that showed much of the social media activity around the event.

After months of
advocacy, Liberian editor freed

On November 18, a Liberian court ordered the official release of editor
Rodney Sieh, who had been imprisoned in
August for failing to pay damages in connection with a libel suit filed against
him by a former official. Sieh's paper, FrontPageAfrica, was also shut down, but resumed publication on
November 25, Sieh told CPJ.

CPJ repeatedly advocated on Sieh's behalf, voicing concern
about his health,
which reportedly deteriorated in prison. In early September, CPJ also wrote
an open
letter to President Sirleaf, calling on her to reform the libel laws
in the country. CPJ received a response to
its statement about Sieh's health and the open letter to the president. The US
ambassador to Liberia also told CPJ that President Sirleaf had mentioned CPJ's
letter in talks with the ambassador.

The court ruled in favor of Sieh after the complainant filed
a three-count Bill of Information that waived all judgment, money, and claims
against Sieh.

Recent events and
upcoming reports

Leonard Downie, Jr., Arizona State University journalism
professor and former Washington
Post executive editor, and author of CPJ's first comprehensive report
on the state of the press in the United States, spoke at a November 14 event
organized by CPJ and hosted by the New
America's Foundation in New York City. The event participants included CPJ
Vice Chair Kathleen Carroll, New York
Times Chief Washington Correspondent David Sanger, and Steve Coll, the dean
of Columbia's Journalism School. Click here for a podcast
of the event.

CPJ will be releasing its annual reports on journalists
killed and journalists imprisoned around the world. The reports will be out in
December.

In January 2014, CPJ will release a report about the press
freedom climate in Russia in the run-up to the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics.

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